Kinmen clamps down on illegal Chinese boats

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/20
By: Amy Huang and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) Coast Guard officers from Taiwan’s outlying island group Kinmen have conducted raids on Chinese boats crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait in waters between Kinmen and mainland China, seizing 10 Chinese ships since October.

The Coast Guard Administration said it began the crackdown after it checked sea and radar data and found that Chinese ships have been sailing near the median line frequently in recent days.

In one incident, they found a Chinese fishing boat operating at 0.2 nautical miles off Fuhsing islet Wednesday night and sent cutters to seize the boat and took four crewmen aboard the vessel back to Kinmen. The captain of the ship is surnamed Guo and is a 26-year-old man from Fujian province.

The coast guard said that they will rigorously clamp down on Chinese fishing ships crossing the median line and impose steep fines to protect the fishery resources of Kinmen.    [FULL  STORY]